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Add MS 23930
- Record Id:
- 032-002097573
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002097573
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000041.0x000377
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 23930
- Title:
- Guiron le Courtois
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
An incomplete version of the second part of Guiron le Courtois (common version) in two sections:
ff. 1r-26r: The first section, from an account by the knight with 'l'escu mi partis' up to the adventures of Guiron (here, 'Guron') and Ser, is mostly effaced at the beginning, incipit, 'Q[ant]....la damoiselle entendi cestui parlement' (f. 1r); explicit, 'et por deviser ce qe elle fist de breuz - deo - gra[tia]s - Am[en]' (f. 26r).
ff. 27r-87v: The second section, from the adventures of Brehuz in the cave to Guiron rescuing Danayn from a giant; incipit, 'Qant la damoiselle ce dit li contes se fu partie de Guron'; explicit, 'Quant il fu la venus...' (imperfect at the end);
ff. 88r-91v: The Letter of Prester John, a fictitious letter in Latin from Prester John to the Emperors Manuel Comnenus (r. 1143-1180) and Frederick I (r. 1152-1190). The text was composed in Latin by an anonymous author probably around 1150-1160. At the time the letter stirred great interest and was almost immediately interpolated, enlarged and translated into many European languages. Other copies of the text are Additional MS 14252 (ff. 97r-102v), Additional MS 22349 (ff. 186r-189r), Additional MS 26770 (ff. 89v-91r), Additional MS 34763 (ff. 83r-91r), Harley MS 215 (ff. 101r-106v) and Harley MS 3099 (ff. 166r-167v), Cotton MS Titus A. XXVII (ff. 181r-184r); a translation into Irish in Egerton MS 1781 (ff. 151r-152r).
ff. 91v-93r: Short texts in Latin relating to Persian and Saracen history;
f. 93v-94v: Letter from Jesus Christ, incipit, 'Ep[isto]la d[omi]ni n[ost]ri Yh[es]u [Christ]i descendens de celo sup[er] altare s[an]c[t]i Petri'.
Decoration:
A historiated initial of a knight on horseback with a full border with foliate decoration in colours with gold, incorporating two roundels, one with a ?knight's visor and one with part of a heraldic emblem (f. 27r). One framed initial in colours on a gold ground with a foliate partial border including a heraldic shield below (or, 2 bars, sable) (f. 1r). Framed initials in colours with gold, with pen-flourishing in foliate patterns (ff. 32v, 55r, 79r). Numerous initials in red or blue with pen-flourishing in the other colour, brown or purple.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-002097573", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 23930: Guiron le Courtois" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002097573
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-002097573
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
-
A parchment codex, 93 folios.
- Digitised Content:
- http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Add_MS_23930 (digital images currently unavailable)
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- French
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1300
- End Date:
- 1399
- Date Range:
- 14th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Parchment.
Dimensions: 340 x 240 mm (text space: 250 x 185 mm).
Foliation: ff. 95 (+ 2 unfoliated parchment flyleaves following f. 86; + 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning and 4 at the end).
Script: Gothic.
Layout: Written in two columns of 48 lines.
Binding: BM/BL in-house. Black leather with gold tooling.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin: Italy (Bologna/Padua?).
Provenance:
Perhaps owned by the Gonzaga family, their old coat of arms resembles the shield on f. 1 r: or, bars, sable, though at an earlier date, and Additional MS 23929, which has the Gonzaga binding, was acquired at the same time from the same owner (see below). The Magalotti family of Florence has a similar emblem.
Paul Alexandre de Geslin, Vicomte de Kersolon (b. 1817, d. 1888), Catholic priest and journalist: note on f. [iv] recto.
Purchased by the British Museum on 28 July 1860, with three other manuscripts (Additional MSS 23927, 23928 and 23929) through 'M. Edw. Loysel', possibly a pseudonym for Vicomte de Kersolon (note on f. [iv] recto).
- Information About Copies:
- Full digital coverage available for this manuscript: see Digitised Manuscripts at http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts.
- Publications:
-
Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum in the Years 1854-1860 (London: British Museum, 1875), p. 919.
H. L. D. Ward and J. A. Herbert, Catalogue of Romances in the Department of Manuscripts in The British Museum, 3 vols (London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1883-1910), I, pp. 369-71.
Roger Lathuillère, 'Guiron le Courtois'. Étude de la tradition manuscrite et analyse critique (Geneva: Droz, 1966), pp. 48-49, 96 as manuscript 'L1'.
Sophie Albert, 'Ensemble ou par pieces: Guiron le Courtois: la coherence en question' (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Paris-Sorbonne, 2008), p. 4.
Nicola Morato, Il ciclo di 'Guiron le Courtois': strutture e testi nella tradizione manoscritta (Florence: Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2010), p. 18.
Claudio Lagomarsini, 'La tradizione compilativa della Suite Guiron tra Francia e Italia: analisi dei duelli singolari', Medioevo romanzo, 36 (2012), 257-91.
Simon Gaunt and others, Francophone Literary Culture Outside France, http://www.medievalfrancophone.ac.uk/ (see http://www.medievalfrancophone.ac.uk/browse/mss/131/manuscript.html) [accessed 16 July 2015].
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)